The Sea Hawk Page #3

to vie in sea power...

it may cost her the friendship of Spain.

I believe milord values too highly

something which doesn't exist.

Have we any evidence

of Phillip's friendship?

His forbearance when our privateers

harass his commerce...

and plunder his possessions.

I suspect Phillip forbears only because...

What else can he do?

He can bide his time,

until his great armada is built...

and then he can strike quickly

before we are ready.

I fear Sir John has delusions of danger,

Your Grace.

Spain is a vast empire.

Naturally, she needs a vast fleet

to defend it.

The Armada's no threat to England...

unless, by provoking Phillip,

we choose to make it so.

Let me be clear, Wolfingham.

My reason for refusing to build a fleet...

is to spare the purses of my subjects,

not the feelings of Phillip.

In fact, I have some serious questions

to put to his ambassador.

Is Don Alvarez not due?

Overdue, Your Grace.

I feel some concern for his safety.

Spanish ships are notoriously slow.

He should have come on an English boat.

Eleven bells, and all's well!

Look at him, will you?

He's as tongue-tied as a schoolboy.

He's always the same

when he has to talk to a woman.

Him what's taken fleets of Spanish ships

can't trade words with a slip of a girl.

- I can't figure him at all.

- Ship's the only thing he cares about.

- He hates the sight of blooming women.

- Not the Queen, he don't.

I hear Her Majesty's the only woman

he could talk up to...

without his knees buckling.

That's different. Man to man, I calls it.

Come on, get on with your work.

What are you standing there for?

Good morning.

Have you been comfortable on board?

- Yes.

- Good.

That promontory over there,

the one you're looking at...

it's got a very interesting history.

It got its name from...

Yes?

I don't remember how it got its name.

Have you been comfortable on board?

- Yes, thank you.

- Good.

Of course, we haven't many of the luxuries

of a galleass...

but she's a fine ship.

We're quite proud of her.

Are you?

Yes.

At all events,

you'll find her safer from attack...

and you'll get there quicker, too.

We've an old proverb in England. It says:

"Those who sail without oars

stay on good terms with the wind."

You don't care to talk.

I'm not in the habit

of conversing with thieves.

I thought I made that quite clear,

Capt. Thorpe.

Yes, all except your definition.

Tell me,

is a thief an Englishman who steals?

It's anybody who steals,

whether it's piracy or robbing women.

I see.

I've been admiring some of the jewels

we found in your chest...

particularly the wrought gold.

It's Aztec, isn't it?

I wonder just how those Indians

were persuaded to part with it.

Ease your foresheet!

Haul in your spritsail!

England.

- Your Grace.

- Lord Wolfingham.

With Your Grace's permission,

I wish to present to Your Majesty...

His Excellency

Don Jos Alvarez de Cordoba...

Ambassador from the court of Spain.

- Your Majesty.

- Welcome to England, Your Excellency.

Thank you, milady.

May I present my niece,

Doa Maria Alvarez de Cordoba?

Your niece will grace England

by her presence.

You're very kind, Your Majesty.

And you are very beautiful.

Don Alvarez...

my Lord Chancellor informs me

you bring new grievances...

from your much-aggrieved monarch,

King Phillip.

There is nothing my lord and king

desires more...

than an end to grievances

between our two nations...

and the growth of friendship.

Then it may be well to consider

friendship grows slowly...

when nurtured only by complaints.

May I suggest

that the misunderstandings...

between ourselves

and His Excellency's government...

arise from one source alone:

The piratical acts of English privateers.

Reprisals, Lord Wolfingham,

are not piratical acts.

Last year, did not King Phillip

confiscate 12 English ships...

Ioaded with grain in Spanish ports?

Do I understand Your Grace to justify...

this murderous assault on my ship

on the grounds of...

You forget, Don Alvarez,

the Queen needs justify nothing.

However, I had no intention of forgetting

an insult to an ambassador to the court.

How much treasure was there,

Don Alvarez?

Approximately 30,000,

besides the loss of the ship.

And where is Capt. Thorpe?

As soon as I was informed

of the incident...

I took the liberty of summoning here

all the Sea Hawks now in port.

You are very thoughtful, milord.

Admit the Sea Hawks at once.

Capt. Frobisher, Capt. Hawkins...

Capt. Wolfe, Capt. Stanley...

Capt. Logan, Capt. Latour.

Your Majesty.

Where is Capt. Thorpe?

Did you hear me? Where is Capt. Thorpe?

We haven't seen him, Your Majesty.

It appears he disregarded

my Lord Chancellor's summons.

I anticipated that, Your Grace,

and dispatched a castle guard...

to bring him here under arrest.

You show great foresight, milord.

Well, Capt. Hawkins?

Any of us would willingly act as hostage...

to assure Your Grace

of Capt. Thorpe's appearance.

An easy pledge, Capt. Hawkins...

with the castle guards already dispatched

to bring him here.

If I may speak for my associates...

I feel we must share the burden

of your displeasure with Capt. Thorpe.

I see. You approve of his activities.

We share his views, Your Grace...

and, to the best of our ability,

his activities on behalf of England.

Then hereafter you will allow me

to determine...

in what manner England

may best be served!

Who dares to...

Capt. Thorpe begs an immediate audience,

Your Grace.

- Admit him.

- Yes, Your Grace.

Your Majesty.

Capt. Thorpe, why did you fail to answer

Lord Wolfingham's summons?

I was in the castle at the appointed time,

but I had an accident.

- An accident?

- Perhaps not exactly an accident.

I lost something

to which I was quite attached.

Capt. Thorpe, I dispatched a castle guard

to bring you here.

Thank you, milord.

That was very kind of you.

The escort was really not necessary.

I know my way here very well.

I have a more serious charge

preferred against you.

His Excellency, Don Alvarez,

ambassador to this court...

states that you did attack, plunder,

and sink the galleass Santa Eullia...

on which he was a passenger

under the flag and protection...

of his sovereign, King Phillip of Spain.

Is this charge true?

Part of it, Your Grace. Quite a large part.

Part of it? What's the rest?

We also set free many Englishmen

imprisoned as galley slaves on his ship.

Your Grace,

these men referred to by Capt. Thorpe...

were duly tried and sentenced

to the galley by a qualified court.

I submit, Your Grace,

that the court of the Inquisition...

is not qualified to pass fair judgment

on English seamen...

nor to subject them to the cruelties

of a Spanish galley.

Your Grace.

The captain wishes to justify what,

in plain words...

is a desire for plunder

with no respect for the interests of Spain.

The interests of Spain

do not command my respect...

- as they evidently do his lordship's.

- I protest!

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